Andie has always had a clear view on what she wants. Her life is planned out. She has amazing friends, a great internship lined up for summer, and with her dad always so busy with politics, she’s pretty much on her own. Until the scandal hits. Suddenly her father is home while there’s an investigation into his campaign and her internship falls through. She’s left with no summer plans so when she sees a job for dog walking, she applies. And gets it. Now she’s walking dogs all summer, surprisingly enjoying it, and getting close to one certain dog’s owner. This summer is definitely full of the unexpected.

I absolutely love Morgan Matson so I was really excited for this book. It seemed like it would be more along the lines of Since You’ve Been Gone, focusing on growth and friendships, instead of something that would break my heart, like Second Chance Summer. It didn’t disappoint and I was completely sucked into Andie’s world of dog walking, romance, and epic friendships.

I really liked Andie. She knew what she wanted and what she had to do in order to get it. She had her sights set on an internship that would look great for medical school and worked so hard to get it. It really sucked that it was taken away from her through no fault of her own and I completely understood her being upset and needing some space to absorb everything. She was strong and smart and very aware of her surroundings when it came to putting on a public image because of her father’s job. Her willingness to try something new with the dog walking, something completely outside her expertise, was great to read and just made me like her more. She had a great connection with her group of friends, obviously close to them all even though the dynamics of their group could be complicated. I liked that she wasn’t perfect. She had doubts that she could sometimes let interfere with her relationships and there were some issues with her father and his job.

Morgan Matson always writes such addicting friendships and characters dynamics and this book was no exception. I loved the friendship between Andie and her three best friends, and even the four girls and Palmer’s boyfriend Tom. The romance was slow and sweet and I really enjoyed seeing Clark and the way he slowly became part of the group, and a huge part of Andie’s life.

I also really liked the relationship, strained as it was, between Andie and her father. He was barely home due to his job and after her mom passed, Andie was pretty much raised by random family members who would stay with her before moving on. She had a lot of freedom so when her dad was suddenly back, how strained their relationship had become was basically shoved in their faces. I liked that it wasn’t magically fixed just because they were forced to be in the same house but they had to work on it.

The growth in Andie was great as she realized that plans changed and she started looking at herself and what she truly wanted. I enjoyed where the growth arc took her and all the bumps and steps backwards along the way. I also appreciated that while her father’s political career was always in mind, the plot didn’t get too political and it didn’t take away from Andie’s story. It was a long book but it flew by so quickly and I enjoyed every minute of it.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.